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Enabling an understanding of the optical properties of functional inorganic–organic materials is crucial for driving development in many areas such as medicine and optoelectronics. In particular the use of two-dimensional materials such as hexagonal boron nitride has been recently investigated for the fabrication of nanohybrid composites due to the unique properties of the material. Here we report the use of boron nitride/silver nanoparticle (BN/AgNP) composite templates as an effective substrate for controlling the fluorescence emission of adsorbed organic molecules through applying external electric fields in the range of 0 to 3 × 104 V/m. We report fluorescence quenching in the field and enhancement of fluorescence signal intensity of J-aggregate porphyrins up to 20 min following removal of the applied voltage. We propose that the observed enhancement can be attributed to charge release upon switching off the field due to capacitance effects associated with the BN/AgNP substrate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here, we demonstrate that quasi self-standing Au nanorod arrays prepared with plasma polymerisation deposited SiO2 dielectric spacers support surface enhanced fluorescence (SEF) while maintaining high signal reproducibility. We show that it is possible to find a balance between enhanced radiative and non-radiative decay rates at which the fluorescent intensity is maximized. The SEF signal optimised with a 30 nm spacer layer thickness showed a 3.5-fold enhancement with a signal variance of <15% thereby keeping the integrity of the nanorod array. We also demonstrate the decreased importance of obtaining resonance conditions when localized surface plasmon resonance is positioned within the spectral region of Au interband transitions. Procedures for further increasing the SEF enhancement factor are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]